From the time of Adam’s banishment from paradise, when we became corruptible and mortal through sin, right up until the present day, not a single human being has ever been free from corruption or death. So if we are to ever regain the original state in which God created us, to become free from corruption, no human free will whatsoever can raise us up to this state. Only the power of God can do this, received by human beings through union with the divine nature.
Simeon the New Theologian (949-1022), The First Created Man, Homily 38, from 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, Part Two: The Middle Ages, by N. R. Needham, p. 141
